Liberty improved to 2-0 on the early 2022 college football season after defeating UAB, 21-14, on Saturday night. With the win, the Flames inch a little bit closer to bowl eligibility, and with several winnable games remaining on the schedule, the likelihood Liberty achieves bowl eligibility for a fourth straight season is very high.
The Flames now prepare to face No. 18 Wake Forest on Saturday night in Winston-Salem, North Carolina where the Demon Deacons opened as 15-point favorites. Here’s an updated look at where the Flames are being projected in early season bowl projections:
- Mark Schlabach (ESPN): SERVPRO First Responders Bowl (Dallas) vs Memphis
- Kyle Bonagura (ESPN): Lending Tree Bowl (Mobile) vs South Alabama
- Jerry Palm (CBS Sports): Camellia Bowl (Montgomery) vs East Carolina
- Brad Crawford (247Sports): Gasparilla Bowl (Tampa) vs Florida State
- Brett McMurphy (Action Network): New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque) vs San Jose State
- Erick Smith (USA Today): Boca Raton Bowl (Boca Raton) vs Maryland
The Flames finished the 2021 campaign with an 8-5 record and won a third straight bowl game with a convincing 56-20 win over Eastern Michigan in the Lending Tree Bowl. Liberty is just one of five FBS teams in the country who have won a bowl game each of the last three seasons, joining Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, and Louisiana.
In its third year of full FBS eligibility, Liberty earned a third straight bowl victory. The Flames, who also won the Cure Bowl in 2019 and 2020, join Appalachian State as the only teams to win bowl games in each of their first three years after transitioning to FBS from FCS. Liberty has now won eight or more games for the 13th season in program history, including all three years under head coach Hugh Freeze.
Liberty is currently in the midst of a multi-year agreement with ESPN Events which could place the Flames in one of at least six bowl games: Boca Raton Bowl (FAU Stadium; Boca Raton, Fla.), Camellia Bowl (Cramton Bowl; Montgomery, Ala.), , Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Albertsons Stadium; Boise, Idaho), Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl (Toyota Stadium; Frisco, Texas), Myrtle Beach Bowl (Brooks Stadium; Conway, S.C.) and New Mexico Bowl (Dreamstyle Stadium; Albuquerque, N.M.).